Znt. Libr. Rev. (1972) 4, 433-442

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR, MOSCOW-TASHKENT APRIL 1972

The Public Library and its Readers: a comparison of thk aims and objectives of the public library in developed and developing countries

DOROTHY ANDERSON-f

It has become the accepted practice that every congress, conference or seminar on library development, whether large or small, whether national or international, should include somewhere in its recommenda- tions, its report, its summary, a statement of definitions-definitions of the role of the librarian, of the objectives and functions of the library. Over the past 20 years there have been many such statements, and because librarians everywhere sustain the same ideals for their profes- sion, there is much similarity in content and even in wording. There is not so much difference between the purpose of the public library ex- pressed as

“promoting the spread of knowledge, education and culture to all categories of population according to their cultural economic, social, and individual needs” (UNESCO Seminar on the Development of Library Services, Ibadan, 1953)

and the declaration of the 8th National Plenary Assembly of the Mexican Technical Council on Education (197 1) that their public libraries should be re-organized

“in order that they may become promoting agencies in the educational and cultural development of the country and play an active part in its social and educational life”.

A very recent statement, made by the Public Library Research Group of the British Library Association as part of the basis for a nationally adopted standard, appears in the Library Association Record, December, 1971, and defines the aim of the public library as

t Executive Secretary, IFLA Committee on Cataloguing, Department of Printed Books, TheBritish Museum, London, WClB 3DG, Great Britain.

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“to contribute to sustaining the quality of life in all its aspects--educational, economic, industrial, scientific and cultural and to promote the concept of a democratic society in which equal opportunity exists for all to develop into true citizens. . . . This contribution is effected through public libraries as a multi- purpose information-education-cultural agency. It should make freely available the records of man’s experience in the form of books and related materials to all who may ask, and thus promote and foster the free flow of information and ideas.”

These are all seriously conceived and grandly worded statements: they conceal but do not hide the basic purpose of the public library: to bring books to people and people to books.

In over a hundred years of development in the countries of Europe and North America, the public has become accustomed to the existence of the public library, has accepted its services, and in turn has made new demands upon it. In the past 20 years particularly, these services have developed and changed considerably; more and more demands are made for specialist information, for highly technical expertise in books and information, and consequently from staff supplying that knowledge. In the next 20 years, there are likely to be new demands, and some of these are already acknowledged. Books are now not the only recorded medium of mass communication, and sophisticated readers see no reason why the public library should not be the repository for and the agent through which they may obtain their requirements in films, in records, in pictures, believing that it is the role of the public library to provide information whatever the subject, whatever the medium; believing, too, that the public library is part of the community services-like refuse collection or street lighting or the public health inspector-and that if there is a reason why they cannot reach the public library, then it is the duty of the public library to ensure that its services reach them.

Yet it is not so very long ago that the public library offered its services less generously and with even a touch of censure in its attitude: services were not always free; payment might be required for light fiction, or there was a restriction on the number of fiction to non-fiction books which might be borrowed. Partly it was a question of limitation of resources; partly it was a relict of the days of “deserving” services. Public libraries, even in Europe, still felt a need to justify their role, to prove that they were basically an elevating and educational community utility.

This has long since past: the public library serves its community, and as the community demands, so the public library offers. It can even be said that its librarians are more than servants of the community; they are also leaders, planning ahead, anticipating the next requirements. Here are some services that have been introduced recently in four highly

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developed public library systems (one in a small university town, three in very large urban communities) :

(1) In Aberystwyth, Wales: the installation of a teleplayer, so that readers can select and show film cassettes of their choice.

(2) In Liverpool ( w h ere the city is in a great process of redevelop- ment) : a Municipal Research Library Service, to provide information to members of the city council and staff of city departments.

(3) In the London Borough of Barnet: a Housebound Reader Service, a personal selection and delivery of books to those who, because of illness or infirmity, cannot visit the library.

(4) In Toronto: a Neighbourhood Information Post, attached to one of the branch libraries, and providing information to citizens on personal problems such as housing, employment, welfare, education.

These services are not unique: many public library systems have similar services or are planning to introduce something similar to fit their especial needs. But these four examples reflect the new extent of the public library’s involvement with the community: first, the new media; second, the library seeking out the reader; and third, the librarian playing an active part as a community worker. They are also indicative of the demands that a highly literate and experienced community can make upon its library system. But the basic role of the public library is constant, and the difference between the public library system in developed and in developing countries is only in two essentials: in the requirements of the readers and in resources.

Readers’ needs differ. It could be said that in a developing country the first objective of the public library must be to capture and educate its potential users to awareness of its purpose, its position and its import- ance in their life. (This is rather like saying which comes first, the chicken or the egg; and often before the public library has the chance to capture its readers, it has first to convince a government that it has a role to play.)

Using a library is something that has to be learned; it does not come without effort and some determination; it is a habit that must be cultiv- ated and encouraged. In many countries where the very skill in reading is something new and precious, the role of the public library appears even more important, more essential than in developed countries. Mrs Hedwig Anuar in the Blueprint for Public Library Development in Malaysia states very simply the basic factor which cannot be ignored: “The degree of literacy is the most important single factor affecting the use oflibraries” (Para 18, p. 15). She points out that in a country with lOOo/o literacy membership of the public library may be as high as 4-O-50%; but the smaller the literate proportion of the population, then the smaller must

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be the use made of the library. Yet in one sense the very problem of illiteracy emphasizes the need for and the importance of the public library.

In many developing countries with concentration on education programmes and literacy schemes the rate of illiteracy is dropping rapidly. In Kenya in the 10 years 1960-1970 the number of pupils in primary schools doubled, and in secondary schools multiplied sixfold. Complete literacy is expected in West Malaysia by 1978. Small children are emerging from their schools proud of their ability to handle and decipher the printed page. But reading is a skill which needs to be coaxed and cultivated, given opportunities for practice: where better can this be achieved than in the public library?

Even more than in developed countries the public library in a developing country when considering its objectives must take heed of the needs of its young readers-the children, school children, and the others just leaving school. Top priority has to be given to the establish- ment of children’s libraries: again the Blueprint states this very simply:

“It is considered that priority should be given to the establishment and develop- ment of children’s services, as these will provide the basis for further library development in the future” (Para 195, p. 82).

This implies not only the provision of books for the young, but also reading space and reading time. It may not be always practical or possible for new readers to borrow books for reading in homes that are crowded and in conditions where the idea of borrowing and returning is something new. It is accepted in university libraries in Asian countries that seating accommodation for students should be as high as half the total number of students; and the new university libraries which are being built are aimed to satisfy this demand from students with little money making do with the poorest of lodgings.1 But the numbers who are officially attending an institute of higher learning and who there- fore have access to academic or specialized libraries are very small com- pared with the others who are studying under less fortunate circumstances or who are intent on learning by themselves. “Self education is one of the highest forms ofeducation, although it is amongst the least expensive”, the INTAMEL Report states dryly, and for such students the obvious place to turn to is the public library. Where the public library cannot provide the space, students will seek elsewhere. The National Library in Bangkok is one new institutional building, spacious and quiet, where the reading rooms and the balconies are crowded with school children

1 The new library building of the University of Malaya is a good example: see. also the article in Ceylon Libr. Rev., 4, (l), September, 1971, “The impact of Svabhasha medium arts entrants on the university libraries in Colombo and Peradeniya” by Violet da Souza.

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and students making use not of the book stock, but of those other neces- sary facilities for study, peace, space and time; and is thus taking on one of the functions of the public library.

These are objectives that many public libraries in developing countries are already pursuing within the limitations of their resources.

That, of course, is the snag. Public libraries are not necessarily a top priority even when they do feature in a country’s development plan: there are always other more rewarding and more obvious schemes by which it would seem that the economy of the country or its image abroad or its natural resources might be developed. Public libraries should be seen, in the terms that economic planners understand, as a growth investment: not now but in 20 years’ time will the cost benefit be apparent.

In many developing countries, too, limited resources have to be stretched in ways which do not so often affect western countries: book stock must be provided not just in one language, but in two or three-or even in seven as in Delhi Public Library. Encouragement must be given to readers who are newly proficient in one language, possibly the national language, though it may not be easy to provide sufficient or the right kind of books in that language. In every case of multiplicity of languages extra strain is put on every aspect of library planning and administra- tion. These may be physical : separate book stocks, for example, requiring multiple access points to enable readers to move freely; separate cat- alogues in different languages and different scripts, requiring profes- sional staff competent in each one, although the intake in any one language may be too small to justify such specialization; constant super- vision of book funds in order to achieve a parity among the languages. And because in every country readers’ needs are different, and the public library exists to serve those needs, then in every case the public library must be planned to assess the needs and to provide accordingly.

The essential factor in planning must be to look ahead and to visualize what will be the requirements of the readers in 20 years’ time. Then today’s new readers will be, in many circumstances, the first generation of adults to be literate and library users: what will be their needs ?

In many countries these problems are recognized and solutions are already being considered. In Singapore, for example, the children’s library is divided according to language; but it has been observed that the children no longer restrict themselves to Chinese or English or Tamil or Malay books but wander freely as their proficiency in their two chosen languages develops; and the librarians are bearing in mind a future when it may be possible to integrate the total book stock. Children in Iran have been fortunate, with the establishment of

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children’s libraries by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, to be provided with libraries well equipped with books, activity rooms, specially designed furniture, backed by a policy of imaginative publishing of illustrated children’s books : will the public libraries offer them similar attractions as they grow up?

Readers, new or old, do not all live in towns, and it is just as essential for the public library in a developing country as in a developed to go out and reach the readers in the country areas. Book vans, mobile libraries, which operate, for example, in the country districts of New Zealand, in the county services of Great Britain, and even surprisingly enough in the highly populated London Borough of Barnet, may be difficult to organize and uneconomic to maintain in countries with a rural reading population scattered thinly over wide areas perhaps poorly linked by roads. In Kenya, however, estimates of costs for such a service have been carefully worked out, and a scheme with four mobile vans is being planned. In Tanzania the original estimate for a similar scheme was considered too expensive, but the German Federal Republic made a gift of two mobile libraries early in 1971, two more have been pur- chased, and a scheme with the four vans operating is being organized. In Korea, on the other hand, a solution has been found in the develop- ment of the “micro-libraries”, small collections of books on practical subjects, farming, fishing, first aid, etc., which are distributed to villages. This scheme was begun in 1961 by the Korean Micro-Library Associa- tion, with the goal of establishing at least one “micro-library” in 30,000 villages by the end of 197 1. In Malaysia a somewhat similar development of small rural libraries has been maintained by the Ministry of National and Rural Development in association with the programme of adult education; and it is considered that these libraries if developed, with a careful selection of books and titles, could serve the whole village popula- tion.

Library growth and expansion has been too often a haphazard development over the past 100 years, with many variations of responsi- bility and of resources. In some countries there has grown up a complete dichotomy between public libraries and academic ones. With this has gone a most unfortunate split in the professional training of librarians, so much so that in some countries professional training for public librarians has been at a different and lower level than that for academic libraries, with the distinction carrying over to the professional associa- tions. Where there has been no free flow of librarians from one type of library to another, the libraries have suffered and the professional stand- ing of librarians has been harmed.

Developing countries have the opportunity-which many are already

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taking-of conceiving an integrated library system where the functions of national library, academic libraries, documentation centres and public libraries can be planned in relation to the existing libraries and to the resources available. Functions are the first priority, not titles or buildings, and it may be possible to plan a scheme in which all the functions of a national library system are carried out without creating new libraries or insisting on new buildings. In Singapore, the National Library has developed from the central public library, and it still per- forms the functions of the public library while it has been developing those of the national library. In the Ivory Coast, the documentation centre has become the national library with reading rooms open to the public. In other countries it is the university library which has taken on some of the functions-building up the national collection, publishing the national bibliography, etc.-of the national library. It is important that these functions are performed, not in what building or under what identity they are at first carried out.

As important as an integrated library system is the possibility of hav- ing an integrated staffing programme whereby western distinctions between public and special and academic librarians are ignored. In an integrated system the librarian has the opportunity to move within the system and can become a specialist after his training. The numbers of professional trained librarians in a developing country are small, and the needs are so many: flexibility of skills and the pooling of experiences are essential.

In an integrated system the establishment of centralized service points can conserve manpower and resources. The most functional would appear to be a centralized book ordering and processing depot, whereby through one department books can be ordered, processed, catalogued and distributed to various libraries in the system. This could be done on a national scale, or, if the geography of the country does not permit it, on a regional basis. Such a centralized department already exists in some countries and is planned for others; for example, it is set out in great detail in the Blueprint. In Iran there is the very successful development of Tebroc which, as well as providing a centralized book processing and cataloguing service for Iranian libraries, provides the service of cataloguing Iranian books to the rest of the world. In Mexico a new Division of Libraries under the Ministry of Education is planned which will establish a centralized technical processing unit and will also print catalogue cards for Mexican publications.

Such agencies have an added dimension which may not be immedi- ately important to the country concerned, but which to me, as the representative of an international library organization, is of particular

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significance: they become the country’s link with the international communication network. That may seem a grandiose description ofwhat is basically a straightforward practical policy for ease of handling and economy of manpower, but the international implications are there.

In most developing countries a large proportion of the book stock for all types of libraries must come from abroad, at least in the con- ceivable future-books written in a language which may not be the national one, published in another country, and in many cases already recorded in another national bibliography with catalogue records available in cards or on tape. It would seem an advantage to use that outside skill and expertise and where economically possible, to subscribe to published catalogue records-never to re-catalogue what is known to be already done. In return, each country has its own contribution to make by recording and cataloguing its own national literature in such a way and in such a form that it is available to the outside world to acquire and use. The only requirement is the acceptance of international standards in making that catalogue record. Tebroc is already doing this for Persian books, and other countries have made similar contributions. In Egypt the National Library issues a Monthly Deposit List in such a way that each leaf consists of three catalogue entries which can be cut and used as catalogue cards.1

Perhaps this seems far removed from the provision for public libraries, but it is all part of the same system. In the European countries it has been discovered, rather painfully in some cases, that a library cannot exist by itself-that each and every library must build upon the resources of other libraries in the community, in the country, and ultimately in the rest of the world. The intricate service of interlibrary loans which spans continents shows this; the catalogue records of the U.S. Library of Congress and the British National Bibliography which find their place in catalogues in libraries from Indonesia to Argentina show equally the need for and the desire to be part of the international network. All countries, whatever the state of their “development”, are part of this international network, and in all countries the functions of the public library and the role it has to play are the same. Every public library system in planning new services and contemplating new developments may learn from the experiences and practices of others. In Toronto since 1970 children have been given free access to all parts of the library collection : is this not an experiment worth considering by other countries where the child reader is so important? In some developed countries immigration and population moves have brought new problems of a book stock in a multiplicity of languages and scripts : here Asian countries

1 Unfortunately for economic reasons this experiment has had to be discontinued.

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have the experience and may produce the solution. Again we can look to the ideal of the catalogue record for a publication made once and for all in its country of origin.

The British Library Association Public Libraries Group set down the following as the objectives of the public library:

(1) Education To foster and provide means for self development of the individual/group

at whatever stage of education, closing the gap between the individual and recorded knowledge.

(2) Information To bring to the individual/group accurate information quickly and in

depth, particularly on topics of current concern. (3) Culture

To be one of the principal centres of cultural life and promote a keener participation, enjoyment and appreciation of the arts.

(4) Leisure To play a part in encouraging the positive use of leisure and providing

material for exchange and relaxation.

In the Blueprint for Malaysian public libraries, Mrs Anuar believes that the development of the public libraries would eventually:

(1) promote the national language through provision of national language books in all public libraries and boost publishing of national language books;

(2) make available government publications which would enable the ordinary citizen to have a better knowledge and understanding of the workings of government and of his own role as a citizen;

(3) provide books for students undertaking part-time and further education courses ;

(4) provide technical and commercial information services for towns, business firms, new industries and existing industries;

(5) support the adult education programme in rural areas, particularly for new literates;

(6) promote national integration in Malaysia through the use of the public library by all groups of people, not only to read or to study but also to participate in cultural programmes provided by the libraries;

(7) enable people to be better equipped to face the challenge of a rapidly chang- ing world. (Para 256, p. 98).

In these two statements the words are different, the details are different: but the objectives, the purpose are the same.

Referentes in this article come from the following sources:

London Borough of Barnet: Library Services. (A series of information leaflets produced by the Library. 197 1.)

Guide to the Central Libraries. Liverpool City Libraries. Annual Report, 1969-70. The Libnzry and the Community. Toronto Public Libraries. Annual Report, 1970.

INTAMEL: Review of the Three Year Research and Exchange Programme, 1968-71.

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Liverpool: Intamel Documentation Centre, 1971. (International Association of Metropolitan City Libraries.)

“Public library aims and objectives” (Document prepared by the Public Library Research Group, as a basis for a nationally adopted standard). Libr. Assoc. Rec., 73, 233-34.

Blueprint for Public Library Development in Malaysia, by Mrs Hedwig Anuar. Kuala Lumpur: Persatuan Perpustakaan Malaysia (Malaysian Library Association), 1968. (The Malaysian Government has since accepted the recommendations set out in the

Bluepint; the National Library of Malaysia as one division of the National Library Service was established in 1971).

Papers prepared for the UNESCO Seminar “Recent developments in Advanced Librarianship”, Liverpool, August, 197 1.

Libraries in International Development. From No. l-March, 1968. (Newsletter issued by the International Relations Office of the American Library Association.)

Cgdon Libr. Rev. 4, (I), September, 1971. (J ournal of the Ceylon Library Association.) Personal recollections of visits paid to public libraries in various countries in Asia

and South East Asia, and of many long discussions with colleagues from countries, both “developed” and “developing”, in Europe, North America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia.